Bali, Bahia sign deal

Bali, Bahia sign deal

JAKARTA (JP): Bali has signed an economic agreement with
Brazil's Bahia province to promote tourism, agriculture and
trade.

Bali's governor, Ida Bagus Oka, and Bahia's governor, Cesar
Augosto Rabello, signed the agreement Saturday in Denpasar, Bali,
Antara reported over the weekend.

Besides the deal with Bahia, Bali has signed similar
agreements with Darwin in Australia, Okinawa in Japan and Ceiju
in South Korea, Oka said.

He said Bali and Bahia were similar because they were both
coffee producers and popular tourist destinations.

"We can learn from Bahia how to improve the quality of our
coffee as an export commodity and our small businesses which make
souvenirs can also learn. This is a reciprocal deal," he said.

In the first half of this year, souvenir and other handicraft
exports from Bali were worth US$85.5 million, up from $80 million
for the same period last year.

Bali's agricultural exports were worth $3.9 million from
January to June this year, up from $2.8 million for the same
period last year. (icn)